Draft gear



April 12, 1932. H. F. woERNLEY 1,853,293

DRAFT GEAR Filed Nov, 28, 1927 J2 sheets-sheet 1 I I I'NI.

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2.9 29 lNvENToR HARRY F. WOERNLEY ATTORNEY APl-l 12, 1932. H. F.woERNLEY 1,853,293

DRAFT GEAR Filed Nov. 28, 192'? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,Z9 9F- Kx INVENTOR @I9 HARRY F WOERNLEY 29 BYWWM ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 1v?,l 1932 UNITEDsrArEs PATENT* oFrlcaf HARRY F. WOERNLEY, OF `WII4KINSB`URG,-,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO CARDWELLWESTINGHOUSECOMPANY, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION or DELAWARE DRAFT (fi-TEAMS,

l .Application led November 28, 1927. Serial No. 236,051.'

This invention relates to draft gears for railway cars and moreparticularly to friction draft gears.

' An object of my invention isr to provide a v friction draft gear inwhich the several parts thereof are so formed that they may be easilyassembled in building the gear and may be readily removed or replacedshould it be desired to repair the draft gear. l@ y *y Another `objectof my invention is to pro- ,vide a friction draft gear with a novelspring assemblage, in which ak plurality of springs are arranged onewithin the other, and each spring wound in such a manner that thecoils,15 thereof cannot become caught between the coils of an adjacent springor springs.

Another object of my invention is to provide thevr draft gear hou-singwith means 'adapted to engage the center or draft sills of a l 'gg carto limit lateral movement of the gear.

A further object of my invention is to provide a draft gear unit havingya hollow rectangular housing in which the inner surfaces of the top andbottom-walls are made arcuate to accommodate a spring of main'mumdiameter and to permit t e insertionk of said spring from the front endof the casing, and another object is to provide fillers adapted to fillthe recesses defined by these surfaces to restrict u the opening at thefront end of the casing to properlyreceive the friction elements of theunit.

Y' Other objects and advantages will appear yfrom the following moredetailed description. YIn the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a sideelevational `view of the draft gear unit constructed inaccordance withmy invention, Y and illustrating the unit applied to the center or draftsills, one of said sills being removed and the sill cover plate,follower and draft gear carrier being shown in section; Fig. 2 is a planview of the same with the cover plate for the sills removed, portion ofthe view being shown in horizontal section; Fig. 3 is a cross ksectionalview taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.

2; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through the draft gear uniton the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 1s an end elevational view of thedraft gear unit; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 ofFig. 5; Fig. 7 is an y within the other.

enlarged front elevational view of one of the fillers for the casing; Fige.` 8 is a sectional View of the same taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7and Fig. 9 isa sectional view on the line 9 9 of Fig. 46. i

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference character 1lindicates the spaced center or draft sills of a railway car betweenwhich a friction draft gear unit is mounted. To the webs of the sills 1are secured front follower stops 2 kwhich form abutments for thefollower plate 3, which follower is adapted to cooperate with theforward end of the draft adapted to vcooperate with stops or abutments 4also secured to the sills 1. The front face of the follower is adaptedto be engaged by the butt of the coupler shank 5 which is attached tothe forward end portion of a yoke 6 in the usual manner,the yoke beingdisposed vertically between the sills and passing around the draftgearunit. For supporting the draft yforward end, groups of alternatedfriction y plates 11 and 12 which are disposed at oppo- 'site sidesof awedging mechanism, the plates 11 being anchored to the casing 8, and theplates 12 being movable relative to the plates 11 under buffing'orpulling impacts. Also contained within the casing, is a springassemblage which may comprise three coil springs of di'erent diametersand arranged one The outer or largest spring 13, and the inner orsmallest spring 14, are coiled in the samedirection, while theintermediate spring 15 is coiled in the opposite direction, so that,when the springs are assembled, the coils of the adjacent springs willeX- tend in directionsfacross one another and thus prevent the coils 'ofone spring from becoming caught between the coils of another 'gear unit,the rear end of said unit being i tudinally disposed wedge blocks 16 and17 having opposed wedging faces adapted to engage correspondingwedgingfaces of Wedge blocks 18 disposed at opposite sides of the wedgeblocks 16 and 17. A follower plate 19 is disposed within the casing 8and engages the inner ends of the friction plates 12, said followerbeing engaged at the oppositel side by the springs 13 and 15. The wedgeblock 16 is normally engaged by the follower plate 3. v 4 Y The Wedgeblock 16 is acted upon bythe spring 14. through the medium of a stem 20kextending through an opening in the wedge block 17 and a spring follower21 which en` gages the innerend of thestem- 20 within the kwedge block17.

Portions of the interior surfaces of the top and bottom walls 1() of thecasing 8 are each made in the form of an arc of a circle, the diameterof which is slightly greater than the diameter of the large spring 15 sothat this spring can'be'inserted through thefront end of the casing. Ifthese recesses were not provided, then any spring having a greaterdiameter than'the greatest vertical dimension through the wedgingmechanism could not be inserted through the front end of the casing andwould haveV to be otherwise inserted, which would necessitate a numberof objectionable structural changes in the casing and wouldunnecessarily multiply the number of parts. After the spring 15 has beeninserted inthe casing, each of these recesses is filled, at the? frontend of the-casing, by a filler 22, having; at each end, a verticallydisposed transverse lug 23 which is adapted to extend between transverselugs 24 formed on the walls 10 interi'orly of the casing, and thefillers are adapted to be held in interlockedengagement with thehousingv by the engagementof the several parts of the wedging mechanismtherewith. It` will thus be seen that the fillers 22wi11, by filling therecessesat the frontend of the casing,.prevent excessive verticalmovement of certain of the frictional elements of the wedgingmechanism.

The rear ends of the friction plates 11 are wider than the front endportions so that shoulders are formed on the plates which are adapted toengage the rear lugs 24 formed interiorly of the casing, and thus anchorthe plates to the housing against undue forward movement, rearwardmovement being limited by the rear ends of the plates abuttingtransversely extending lugs projecting inwardly from the top and bottomwalls of the casing, their inner ends being of reduced height to permitthe entrance of the springs.

When the several parts of the draft gear unit are assembled, they areforced inwardly aA short distance, thus initially compressing the springassemblage, and to maintain this initial compression and-v toholdtheparts in assembled relation, a key 25 is'A provided which 'until thefollower 3 extends vertically through an opening 26 formed in the stem20 of the wedge block 16 and through elongated slots 27 formed in thetop and bottom walls 1Q of the casing 8. Intermediate its ends this keyis provided with a recess into which a projection 28, on the springfollower 21, is adapted to extend and engage the key to preventaccidental movementy thereof in the direction of its length. As thespring 14 is under initial compression, as hereinbefore mentioned, thepressure of "thisfspring acting` on the follower 21, will maintain theprojection 28 in engagement with the key 25.

Each side wall 9, of the casing 8, is providedwith spaced horizontallydisposed ribs 29, which extend longitudinally of the casing, and attheir ends are connected with vertically disposed front and rear ribs 30and 31, respectively. Spaced a short distance from the front rib 30 is alike' rib 32 which together with the ribs 3()v and 31 strengthen theouter end portion of the casing transversely vagainst the expandingforce of the wedging mechamsm. from the casing a sufficient distancethat they substantially fill the space between the webs of the sills 1,there beingjust sufficient clearance between the ribs and the sills topermit the vproper movement of the'` casing, so that excessive llateralmovement of f the draft gear unit is prevented.

Inl the compression of the gear, the follower 3 advances the wedge block16 which-block thenv exerts a wedging action onl the wedge block 18. The wedge/,blocks 1.8 are advanced engages the friction plates 12. whicharethen advancedsliding between the anchored friction plates'll. rlheadvance of the wedge blocks 158 is opposed by the springs 13 andy 15acting through the spring follower 19 and the wedge block 17 so that thewedge block 17 also exerts a Wedgingl action` on the wedge blocks 18.Outward Vpressure thus exerted on the wedge blocks' 18 increases thefrictional resistance to lthe movement of the friction plates 12.

When the pressure. on the gear vis relieved, the springli tends torelease the wedge'block 16, so that the wedging pressure on the wedgeblocks 18 is relieved, permitting the springs 13 and 15 to return thefriction plates 1`2"to release position.

While one illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described indetail, Ait is not my intention to limit its scope to that' embodimentor otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is p 1. In a draft gea-r, they combinationwith a casing, of alternatedy relatively fixed and movable frictionplates mounted in said cas-- ing, a spring mounted in said casingvtending All of these ribs extendoutwardly casing, of alternatedrelatively fixed and to urge said movable plates forward, abutments onthe top and bottom walls of `said casing adapted to limit the forwardmovement of said iixed plates, said abutments being recessed to permitof the insertion of said spring from the forward end of said casing,members engaging said abutments adapted to fill the recesses formed-inthe abutments, and wedge means for exerting lateral pressure on saidplates.

2. In a draft gear, the combination with a casing, of alternatedrelatively xed and movable friction plates mounted in said cas! ing, aspring mounted in said casing tending to urge said movable platesforward, abutments on the top and bottom walls of said casing adapted tolimit the forward movement of said xed plates, said abutments beingrecessed to permit of the insertion of said spring from the forward endof said casing, and members interlocked with said abutments adapted toill the recesses formed in the abutments, and wedge means for exertinglateral pressure on said plates.

3. In a draft gear, the combination with a movable friction platesmounted in said casing, a spring mounted in said casing tending to urgesaid movable plates forward, abutments on the top and bottom walls ofsaid casing adapted to limit the forward moveyment of said fixed plates,said abutments comprising spaced lugs having recesses formed therein topermit of the insertion of said spring from the forward end of said'casing, members adapted to fill said recesses having lugs cooperatingwith said spaced lugs for maintaining said members against longitudinalmovement relative to said oas.- ing, and Wedge means for exertinglateral pressure on said plates.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. f

HARRY F. WOERNLEY.

